Hurt and Comfort
by Major Mike Powell III
Summary: Repost. After a difficult breakup, Nanoha finds solace in the arms of the ones who were always there for her. FatexSignum, ArisaxNanohaxSuzuka R&R for unconventional pairings!


Hurt and Comfort

**Hurt and Comfort**

**By Major Mike Powell III**

Nanoha looked around the living room, slate-blue eyes searching for burgundy-red ones.

'Where's Fate-chan?' the 18-year-old brunette wondered, failing to spot the lightning mage. She wandered over to Hayate, who was chatting cheerfully with Arisa and Suzuka.

"Hey Hayate-chan, Arisa-chan, Suzuka-chan" Nanoha greeted her friends.

"Yo, Nanoha-chan. How're you doing? Having fun?" Hayate asked her fellow mage.

"Ah, hey. I'm fine, having a great time." She smiled. "Hey, have any of you seen Fate-chan? I kind of…need to talk to her" she blushed. Her friends' ears perked up at that statement and the same thought crossed their minds at the same time:

'They're going to do it _here_?'

"Well, I think I saw her leave the room some time ago. Said she was going to the bathroom." Hayate informed her. Nanoha smiled, gave her a "Thanks" and began making her way out of the room.

"Go for it, Nanoha-chan!" Hayate said very loudly on purpose, making everyone in the room stare at her retreating form.

"Err…right…" Nanoha said once she was out of earshot.

Back in the living room, Arisa nudged Suzuka in the ribs and winked at her, smirking before leaving the room the same way Nanoha had. Suzuka blinked twice before hurrying after the blonde with the intention of stopping her from spying on their friend. Soon, however, Suzuka ended up giving in to her own curiosity.

Everyone was gathered at Suzuka's mansion: Nanoha, Hayate, Fate, Arisa, Suzuka and the female members of the Wolkenritter.

It was the first night of the 5 girls' last Spring Break of high school and Suzuka came up with the idea of having a party at her place to celebrate. Hayate's "family" had also been invited, as the more the merrier.

Now, back with Nanoha, the brunette made her way to the bathroom, all the while failing to notice the blonde and purple-haired girls following her from a decent distance.

However, much to her surprise, the bathroom was completely deserted.

'Huh…? But then, where…? Hmmm…wait, I know!' Nanoha brought out her intelligent device.

"Raising Heart, give me Bardiche's position" she commanded. A couple of seconds passed by before the red jewel replied.

"Master, exactly 1 floor up from your current position"

"Wha…? Upstairs?" Nanoha wondered. "Well, show me"

"Yes, my master"

A screen appeared before Nanoha, showing an aerial shot of the mansion. The image zoomed in on a bright red dot in one of the bedrooms.

"Master, Laeventein has been detected near Bardiche" Raising Heart informed, sending Nanoha deeper into confusion.

"What the…? Signum is with her…? I wonder what…?" the brunette thought aloud.

"Thank you, Raising Heart" she said before tucking the device into her shirt. She then made her way towards the stairs, still completely ignorant to the 2 girls following her.

Walking up the stairs, Nanoha unconsciously clenched and unclenched her fists, a feeling of dread making her uneasy.

Bardiche and Laeventein…Fate and Signum…

'Ok, Ok, calm down, girl…calm down' the brunette thought to herself. 'It's okay. Even if you know Fate has had a little crush on Signum for the longest time doesn't mean they're doing anything that can't be interrupted.' She stopped in front of the door to the room she had seen on the screen.

Her hand trembled as it neared the doorknob. After a couple of dread-filled seconds, she grabbed the knob and twisted it slowly. But when she heard their voices, she froze, and found herself listening intently even if she didn't understand it all.

"But you're with Nanoha, aren't you?"

Nanoha's eyes widened. What did Fate say that would make Signum bring that up? Although it was common knowledge that she and Fate had been casually dating for the last year or so…

"…not right." Fate's words, somewhat blurred by the intensity of Nanoha's thoughts, twisted deep into Nanoha's heart. "We've tried… It's not like I don't love her- I do, I do so much. But… it's not the kind of love that… that would let us be ourselves if we're dating. She's… she's like… like a sister to me. A very important sister."

Nanoha pressed her head against the door. As a tear fell, she thought to herself, 'Why am I crying? I know what she said is true. I know I feel the same way. I wanted to tell her that tonight… so why? Why does it hurt like this?'

Signum said, "Testarossa… you…"

"I've fallen for you, Signum. I want to… I believe we can… Will you try? I think I can come to love you much more than I already do. If you just give this a chance…"

"Testarossa…" Signum seemed to be struggling to comprehend this. "As a timeless Wolkenritter, I've never… had the peace of mind for extraneous relationships… but with Hayate as our master… I have a great respect for you as my rival and comrade…"

"Signum…?" Nanoha smiled at the insistent ring to Fate's voice. She had always hated it when people beat around the bush… but then, she had been whipped profusely as a child, so it was hard to determine whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"T- Fate… I wouldn't be… unwilling… if it weren't for that… before anything can happen between us… Nanoha… Nanoha should know how you feel."

As if taking her cue, Nanoha pushed the door open softly, and she saw their familiar faces pale as they stood in the middle of the room, hands intertwined. Their eyes were on Nanoha as she said,

"You don't have to worry about me. As long as Fate-chan is happy… that's all I need. Because… we're best friends to the end… right?"

With tears streaming silently down her cheeks, Nanoha left the door open for the sake of running off as quickly as she could. She had to get away from this. She couldn't let Fate see her like this, at least, not up close.

"Nanoha!"

Fate ran up to the door, looking in the direction that Nanoha had run off just as Suzuka and Arisa revealed themselves from the other side of the hallway.

"Fate-chan! What happened?"

Fate looked back into the room towards Signum, and then down the hallway where Nanoha had just turned a corner.

"I think… I think we just broke up in a really imperfect way."

Arisa snorted and responded instinctively, "Since when are breakups ever perfect?"

Suzuka offered, "Fate-chan… will you let us take care of this? Knowing Nanoha-chan… I think her pride might be a little too hurt to face you right now… She came here looking specifically for you after all."

Fate bit her lip, but nodded. "Please. I leave her in your hands tonight. I'll talk to her in the morning."

Suzuka and Arisa both nodded before running off after Nanoha.

Arisa soon doubled back and stopped in front of Fate, however. Before Fate could give her so much as a confused look, Arisa backhanded Fate's cheek, sending her sprawling into the open door in surprise.

"That's for making Nanoha cry. I know breakups happen, so I won't rag on you for it. And I can't say your 'second choice' is all too bad either." With a smile and a wink, Arisa hurried to catch up to Suzuka before they went to find Nanoha together.

Fate stared after them, and she slowly turned to look at Signum.

"Does it hurt?"

Fate smiled and rubbed her cheeks. "Not as much as it might have if Arisa and Suzuka weren't here. If it's them… they'll know how to get Nanoha all cheered up again in no time, I'm sure."

Signum smiled in return before grabbing Fate's wrist and dragging her out of the room entirely.

"S-Signum, where are you taking me?"

"To see Shamal. She hit you harder than you seem to think. If it isn't taken care of, it might swell and ruin your beautiful face."

Fate was surprised at Signum's compliment, but smiled nonetheless. Until she realized, "You mean… you're going to tell Hayate? About… can I say 'us'?"

"I've never been in a relationship before outside the traditional one with my Masters. I may not be expected to ask for her permission, but I believe she deserves to hear it from me first anyway."

Fate nodded. "Might as well get it over with then."

Meanwhile, Suzuka and Arisa stopped to catch their breath in front of the bathroom, worn out from chasing Nanoha. After a moment, they both walked in and found Nanoha trying to vigorously wash her face.

"Nanoha-chan?" Suzuka asked gently, placing a hand on Nanoha's shoulder.

"Suzuka-chan…" Nanoha said weakly.

"Nanoha, you okay?" Arisa asked. "Did you… see? Fate-chan and Signum?"

That wasn't the right thing to say, as proven when Nanoha burst into tears again. Arisa winced and Suzuka sighed.

"Come on, let's go to my room" the purple-haired girl suggested. Both girls helped Nanoha dry her face and then led her away from the sink.

They walked in silence, only broken by Nanoha's sobs and sniffs.

After a while of walking, the 3 girls reached Suzuka's room. They all sat down on the huge bed, each girl holding one of Nanoha's hands.

Silence ensued for about a minute or two, until the mage's crying subsided.

"So…" Arisa began. "Nanoha, what happened? What did you find out?" she asked gently.

"We couldn't hear anything from where we were. Tell us how you saw things." Suzuka requested. Nanoha's head was hung low, so that her hair was covering her eyes.

"Why…" she began. "Why were you…following me?" she asked in a murmur. The 2 girls sweat-dropped and began stuttering.

"W-W-Well, that's…that's, err…"

"We just, ah…that is to say…ummm…"

"It's Ok…" Nanoha shrugged, blowing her nose when offered a handkerchief. Both girls visibly relaxed but their expressions turned serious again.

"So…" Arisa began, letting the word linger. Nanoha sighed and looked up with teary eyes.

"I heard…" she closed her eyes and another lonely tear made its way down her cheek. "Fate-chan… with Signum… confessing…" While she didn't cry any harder, her hands were balled up into tight fists as she tried to collect herself. Her voice was soft as she continued…

"She could have at least waited until after tonight…"

Arisa and Suzuka looked at each other, bewildered.

"Nanoha…?" Suzuka frowned, and then decided to just go ahead and ask. "When you went to go find Fate-chan tonight. You were planning to…"

"I wanted to try one last… thing with her before asking her if she minded if she wanted to break up…"

Arisa blurted out, "_You _wanted to break up too?"

Nanoha nodded. "I kind of had a feeling Fate felt the same way… it was just a matter of saying it aloud… I just… I hadn't expected things to turn out that way… at least not so fast…"

They sat in silence for a while, during which time Nanoha's tears eventually dried. Suzuka wasn't even looking at Nanoha when she said,

"We'll always be here to support you, whatever you do."

Arisa nodded with a soft sound of agreement.

Suzuka added, "It's not like Fate-chan is the only person that gets to have any fun around here."

Nanoha looked at Suzuka with a confused frown. What was she suggesting? "Suzuka-chan?"

"This _is_ our last year of high school after all. Why not branch out a bit and try other flavours?"

Before Nanoha could say anything further, Suzuka leaned in and pressed her lips against Nanoha's.

The brunette's eyes shot wide open and she gasped into kiss, giving Suzuka the chance to slip her tongue into her mouth. Nanoha couldn't help but moan into the purple-haired girl's mouth as her oral cavity was gently, lovingly caressed.

With a grin, Arisa climbed onto the bed and sat herself behind Nanoha. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and waist. She undid the brunette's off-centered ponytail, letting her hair cascade down her back and ran her hands through the silken locks, caressing and nuzzling Nanoha's hair.

"You know how beautiful you are…Na-no-ha…?" Arisa purred in the girl's ear, before taking the lobe between her lips and sucking on it, making her squirm.

"Hey, Suzu-chan, don't monopolize her!" she pouted at her friend, who broke the kiss she and Nanoha were sharing and giggled.

"Right, sorry! It's just that Nanoha-chan's such a great kisser!" she complimented the brunette, who in turn looked away with a blush.

"P-Please, Suzuka-chan…! I'm…I'm not that good…" she said, embarrassed. Suzuka and Arisa both giggled.

Nanoha's blush intensified ten-fold when the blonde behind her began to unbutton her low-cut sleeveless red blouse.

"A-Arisa-chan…!" Nanoha was silenced when Suzuka cupped her chin and turned her head to the side, and the blonde behind moved in for the kill, joining their lips in another kiss.

However, instead of gentle and loving like Suzuka's, this one was demanding and rough.

And Nanoha wasn't surprised, and enjoyed it just the same.

What followed would become one of Nanoha's most treasure memories.

……………………………………………………………………………….

The next morning, Nanoha woke up to the sound of birds chirping and cats mewing. She blinked her eyes open and then rubbed the sleep off them.

What met her when she looked to the right was a tuft of blonde hair. Confused, Nanoha turned to the left…and was met with another tuft, this one of purple hair.

She blinked twice before looking down at herself and realized she was naked.

"Nyahaha…ha?"

That's when the memories came rushing back: the party at Suzuka's, searching for Fate…finding her confessing to Signum…and then…

Nanoha blushed furiously. She then smiled widely.

She didn't feel sad about Fate anymore. This wasn't about to ruin their friendship. She would support her best friend.

And now, she knew how much did Suzuka and Arisa care for her. They had comforted her in her time of biggest need. And she didn't have 1 regret about the previous night.

"Arisa-chan…Suzuka-chan…" she whispered, looking at each sleeping girl. Nanoha laid back down and closed her eyes, deciding that she could sleep in today.

"Thank you, girls…'Love you" she whispered.

The End

……………………………………………………………………………….

**A/N:**Ok, the original version SUCKED, alright!

So, with version 2.0 of this thing, I hope to have fixed the earlier mistakes.

This fic was done with the invaluable help of Knight of L-sama. Thank you, marine.

Read'n' Review, people! That's an order, damn it!

Hoo-rrah! for unusual pairings!

_Semper-Fi_! Carry on!


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